2013-15 Lord Falconer's revived Assisted Dying Bill ran out of time following letter-writing campaigns and rallies outside Parliament which further cemented links with healthcare professionals, disability activists and faith groups. CNK commissioned or supported commissioning of polls which found that public support falls away when confronted with the realities of assisted suicide

2014-15 Pro-assisted suicide measures defeated in the Manx House of Keys and Welsh Assembly

2014-15 Patrick Harvie's Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill confronted with rallies, a petition signed by more than 15,000 and oral evidence in committee. Defeated 82-36

2015 Rob Marris MP's Assisted Dying (No. 2) Bill, the first assisted suicide bill to be debated in the Commons in 18 years, met by a letter-writing and social media campaign, MP briefings and a joint CNK-NDY rally. Defeated 330-118

2017-18 CNK intervened successfully in Noel Conway's attempt at the High Court and Court of Appeal to have the Suicide Act declared incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights

The challenges before us

Holyrood bill: four years on from the overwhelming defeat of Margo MacDonald's bill (the Harvie Bill), favourable MSPs are organising, in conjunction with campaign groups, and have recently begun breaking cover in support of a new bill. Advocates have launched a new high profile campaign, seeking to persuade MSPs by highlighting hard cases.

Medical organisations: in January 2019, the Council of the Royal College of Physicians announced controversial new rules for how it would survey the views of fellows and members on assisted suicide, and despite a clear plurality remaining personally opposed to assisted suicide, and in favour of formal college opposition, the RCP went neutral. Advocates have been clear that neutralising medical opinion is vital to their cause, and similar challenges in other bodies are expected in coming months.

Courts: proponents' immediate response to the informed and considered rejection of the Marris Bill was to threaten new legal challenges, and they openly advertised for terminally ill individuals to 'get involved'. CNK intervened in the subsequent case of Noel Conway, at the High Court and Court of Appeal, both of which dismissed his application for a declaration of incompatibility between the Suicide Act and the ECHR before the Supreme Court declined to hear a further appeal in November 2018. In a less welcome development, the Supreme Court ruled in 'Y' that clinically assisted nutrition and hydration could be withdrawn from patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness where doctors and families agreed, without recourse to the Court of Protection; the ruling influenced new, troubling guidance from the BMA.

Foreign laws: New Jersey recently followed California, Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Colorado and Hawaii in legalising assisted suicide, while shocking new statistics and stories continue to pour forth from the Low Countries. The reality of such places' experiences must continue to be presented.

Our needs

Care Not Killing consistently achieves far more than its resources warrant: our principal costs are the salaries of two full-time, paid employees; rental costs for our London office; and media support. Other costs include internet support, design work, accountancy fees, travel expenses, printing and mailing costs. These stand apart from the many services provided, on account of long-standing relationships developed in the years since CNK was established, without or at greatly reduced charge. These include pro bono legal services, media spokespeople, AV technical support, material costs relating to public events (rallies) and incidental administrative assistance.

The appointment of our first full-time CEO, following the departure in December 2018 of our pro bono, part-time Campaign Director, presents an opportunity to develop our work - but this requires substantially increased funding. We punch well above our weight, but we need your support.

You can use the form below to donate to the work of Care Not Killing; please consider giving on a regular basis, although individual donations of any size are great appreciated. Thank You.

first name

last name

I represent an organisation

name of your organisation

email

please send me CNK's newsletter and other updates by email

amount (e.g., 15.00)

£

frequency of donation

please enable javascript!

Powered by PayPal - no signup required for one-off gifts

Legacies

If you would like to help support this work in the long term, one option is to remember CNK in your will. Our Legacies document outlines how you can ensure that you remain a part of this work.